Author

Naseem Rakha
Jan. 6 committee reveals Trump’s Orwellian attempt to win the election
By: Naseem Rakha - July 26, 2022
Anyone who’s read George Orwell’s “1984,” the dystopian novel about life under an authoritarian regime, knows that to survive, one had to accept whatever Big Brother said no matter how big the lie. Proof you’d come to fully embrace the all-controlling Party was to believe without question that two plus two never equaled four but […]
U.S. Supreme Court out of touch with most Americans
By: Naseem Rakha - July 13, 2022
I woke up the morning of July 4th feeling cynical about “Independence Day” after the recent slew of Supreme Court decisions that essentially eviscerated long-standing constitutional rights and protections considered core to our democracy. With Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court’s newly anointed conservative supermajority stripped women of the constitutional guarantee to decide whether to […]
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision by six Catholics breaches wall between church and state
By: Naseem Rakha - June 30, 2022
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to gut Roe, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt declared, “The womb is now … the safest place for a child to be.” My question is, where is the safest place for women and the babies they will now be forced to bear? The court’s decision to overturn Roe made […]
As drones proliferate, Oregon parks agency is considering new rules
By: Naseem Rakha - April 11, 2022
For anyone who enjoys any of Oregon’s state parks or the coast, this is important. You have until 5 p.m. Friday, April 15, to offer your opinion on new rules regulating drones at our state’s most cherished and iconic geographic sites. In 2021, with the guidance and assistance of Kenji Sugahara, CEO and president of […]
While rebuilding from wildfires, Oregon also needs to tend more attentively to personal needs
By: Naseem Rakha - February 28, 2022
Last week, nearly 18 months after losing everything in the Beachie Creek Fire, Ron Carmickle sat in front of a computer testifying before the House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery. Committee Chair Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, called the meeting to hear from individuals whose lives had been upended the night of September 7, 2020, when […]
An alarming account of how a 2-year-old broke a political logjam in Oregon
By: Naseem Rakha - January 18, 2022
Little known fact: my son, at age 2, played a role in ending an exceedingly long and ugly battle over the state budget during the June 2002 special session of the Oregon Legislature. This was the third special session that year and up to that point was one of the longest in Oregon’s history. The […]